THE SPIRIT OF GOD LIKE A FIRE IS BURNING

Today was orientation day for students and parents at BYU-I. The spirit was so strong; it was amazing. I have never been to an orientation of any sort where I felt the spirit, let alone how physically palpable it was today. The Lord was and is certainly on that campus. WE FELT IT. Families from all over the country came to partake.



What a wonderful blessing it is to have a son who has chosen a worthy goal such as he has. It is such a different environment than anything that I am used to. The kids there are all striving to live right—the whole campus and all the students in the apartment buildings around town. What a difference that is from what I see day to day! DS’s apartment building is for men only, and the girls have their own buildings. Pictures of the Savior are in each apartment, along with other scriptural paintings. Everyone is friendly. My husband remarked that it was more like family than just strangers. It was really amazing.

The dress code is modest, and I have not seen one immodestly-dressed person in the day and a half that we have been here. That is 180 degrees from what is normal, as I generally don’t go but a few minutes without seeing some sort of vulgarity or another, whether it be dress or the magazines on the racks at the convenience store.

The dress and grooming of BYU-Idaho students should always be modest, neat, and clean consistent with representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Taken from "BYU-Idaho Student Baseline Campus Dress and Grooming Standards", BYU-Idaho.



I don’t want to leave; it just feels good here.



DB is rooming with other guys, at least two of whom are returned missionaries. It is just so remarkable to me to see people of this age dress and act with respect. I don’t know what more a parent could ask for than to have their own child in such an environment.



I am thankful for the great work that the faculty and workers at the school do for our kids. There are uplifting magazines laying on tables by the couches in the commons area. There is a president, who came from Harvard, to serve and guide the students. His experience is great, but his spirit is just as great, and that is what really matters. There are chapels, Family Home Evening groups, and a beautiful temple on the hill, just above the campus.



We were fed by the spirit today, in great abundance, and we were fed good nutritious food as well. A Luau was planned for us complete with a Hawaiian dinner.

I am thankful for this blessing in my life. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me, through my son, to experience just a portion—yet such a great amount to me—of what it will be like when I return to him. Nothing else in life really matters, and today I was reminded of that.

APPROPRIATE DRESS AND APPEARANCE

Today in Relief Society (a women’s Church group), we talked about different aspects of the book for the young people of the church entitled For the Strength of Youth. The part that caught my attention today was the chapterlette on Dress and Appearance.

Below are some excerpts…

“Your body is God’s sacred creation. Respect it as a gift from God, and do not defile it in any way.”

“The way you dress is a reflection of what you are on the inside. Your dress and grooming send messages about you to others and influence the way you and others act.”

I find this very true for myself. If I am dressed in a sloppy manner, I feel the same way. If I am dressed up, I feel much better.

I think that it is important to take some time for ourselves to bathe, fix our hair, and put on a bit of makeup. I know that I feel an almost night-and-day difference in so doing.



50sgal, over at The Apron Revolution, has talked about this for a long time now and has a special time set apart for her grooming routine.

James, from Man of the 50s, is like-wise a tailored dresser and a gentleman to boot! Have you ever noticed nicely-dressed gentlemen holding the door open for a lady? On the contrary, have you ever noticed guys with the waist of their pants below their bottoms holding the door for a lady? Not that the latter doesn’t ever happen, but…

There is something to the way we dress in accordance with how we view ourselves and how we treat others.

One does not need to be a nun for sure but can be tastefully dressed AND beautiful at the same time.

“When you are well groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the spirit and can exercise a good influence on those around you.”

“Never lower your dress standards for any occasion.”

Wow; that says volumes to me. “…for any occasion.” It continues…

“Doing so sends the message that you are using your body to get attention and approval and that modesty is important only when it is convenient.”

In today’s world of sex-sells-all, I really wonder how many decently-minded people there are left. I get so very weary of the (I won’t say the name that I’m thinking) ill-dressed women—NOT ladies—on TV. And, who is watching these shows? Your husband? Your son? Young moldable boys? It’s a shame.

“Always be neat and clean and avoid being sloppy or inappropriately casual in dress, grooming, and manners.”

If we could twinkle ourselves back to the Victorian era, these things would all be common sense.



Print by John P. O'Brien

At one point in my life, I desired a tattoo. Then, men were the main population getting them; they were not mainstream as they are now. At the time, I was dating a Marine, and I suppose that had something to do with it...

I cannot count the number of times since then that I have been so happy that I never got that tattoo!

Summertime…

I think that summertime is especially difficult in the area of dress...Or lack thereof. During this season, females all but lose any modesty that they may have once maintained.

I was sitting in my car at the school on Friday and caught, in my review mirror, a young middle-school aged girl...So, that would be 13ish. What got my attention first of all was that she was using crutches. As I started to wonder what the cause of her ailment was, the view became more clear. I could see the bottom of HER bottom sticking out of very short shorts!

I am always amazed at what is allowed not only in public but in places of learning. I’m sure that many males were happy that day, but at what cost?

To sum up these thoughts…

I am very far from perfect in this area and in many others as well, and I do not want to give the impression that I am. I do, however, strive and want to continue to do so, in my own dress and, at the same time, hopefully be an example to others that looking nice and neat and clean does not have to mean dressing like a bar-room girl.

THE SCRIPTURES

I have heard it said that every answer that we ever need is contained in the scriptures. Sometimes we have to search and search to find our answers. Sometimes, they come quickly. There are times when one can pray then randomly flip through the scriptures. The answer is there before our eyes practically jumping off the page at us. I love when that happens. It makes me realize that the Lord loves little old me. He has all of his children to watch over, but he actually cares about me!



Along with the scriptures, our youth have a pamphlet entitled “For the Strength of Youth: Fulfilling Our Duty to God”. They are given this at 12 years of age when they enter the young people’s group. It contains many things, which relate both to them and to the adults as well. The titles for the different sections are Message from the First Presidency, Agency and Accountability, Gratitude, Education, Family, Friends, Dress and appearance, Entertainment and the Media, Music and Dancing, Language, Dating, Sexual Purity, Repentance, Honesty, Sabbath Day Observance, Tithes and Offerings, Physical Health, Service to Others, Go Forward with Faith, The Living Christ, and The Family: A Proclamation to the World.



The section on Gratitude says in part, “The Lord wants you to have a spirit of gratitude in all you do and say. Live with a spirit of thanksgiving and you will have greater happiness and satisfaction in life. Even in your most difficult times, you can find much to be grateful for. Doing so will strengthen and bless you.”



The teenage years are a tough time of life. Many youth go astray because Satan works so powerfully on them. Their hormones are surging, and ties to Mom and Dad are slowly dissolving.

I am so thankful for these tools that the Lord has bestowed upon us. What a world it would be if we have to go it alone.

THANKSGIVING SWIMSUIT

I am so excited for my new swimsuit. I guess that I may have already mentioned it, but if not…Every year, we go to a hot springs rustic “resort” for Thanksgiving. We have been going at different times of the year for 35 years now. My Grampa went when it was a hospital years ago. People would come for the comfort of the natural hot springs. Over the years, the proprietors have kept the pastoral nature of this wonderful place. Though they now have very nice modernized rooms of different sorts, this inn still does not offer televisions or phones—what a nice change! There is one payphone in the lobby near the fireplace for guests to use.

As this wonderful lodge holds so many memories, I still love to stay in the “old” rooms. They come with either an in-room bath and stool (tub down the hall), a sink (tub and stool down the hall), or just the bed (bathroom down the hall). When I was growing up, there wasn’t air conditioning; you would just open the wooden vent slat above the door and the outside window to get a cross-ventilation. Well, today, these rooms still don’t have air conditioning, but due to fire code, the vents (can’t think of the proper name) had to be sealed off.

The best entertainment at this lodge is sitting in the warm water while it’s snowing outside. Many evenings have been spent with Grandma and Grampa, Mom, Dad, and siblings playing in the water.

This year, though I am very excited about going, I had not been looking forward to donning a bathing suit and letting it all hang out. Though I wear a one-piece, for some reason this year more than others, it seemed so immodest to wear a swimming suit after being mostly covered up the rest of year. So, online I went. I found a wonderful place called Modest Swimwear Solutions http://www.modestswimwearsolutions.com/. These ladies offer sensible swimming suits that are either hand-made, tailor-made, or sold by the pattern for you to sew. Below is a picture from their web page, which shows the garmets.

CLOTHING

I have such a yearning to dress as Heavenly Father would have us do--with modesty. This seems quite a challenge today with the fashions what they are, if one can even call them fashions. Though I know of those women and girls who wear only dresses, I don't. I think, however, that this is such a tribute to our Heavenly Father in showing Him that they are committed to dress as modestly as possible.

The Duggars, for instance, all wear dresses, as do the Bates family. This is so pure to me. I so often wish that my entire family would really be Christian in word and deed, trying whole-heartedly to please the Lord. While I am certainly no saint, nor even close to one, it would be so much easier, I think, to follow the dictates of my heart if we all worked together and taught our children such holy and pure doctrines.

I actually think that it would be so wonderful if we had the option to dress as the pioneers did with long dresses and bonnets. This may seem quirky, but again I feel a purity in this. I have a bonnet but of course no place to wear it without the stares of many and to the great embarrassment of my husband!